Top-level domains

Internet domain names are organised by their levels, with the higher levels on the right.

For example, for the domain "www.ukfast.net" the top-level domain is "net", the second-level domain is "ukfast.net", and the third-level domain is "www.ukfast.net".

Originally, the top-level Internet domains were associated with organisations, mainly ".arpa", ".csnet", ".bitnet", and ".uucp".

On January 28, 1986, it was agreed to restructure the domain name space into the following eight subject-specific top-level domains, with technical administration performed by ISI:

TLD	Usage
.bitnet	Used for computers on the BITNET network.
.com	Originally stood for "commercial" to indicate a site used for commercial purposes, but it has since become the most well-known top-level Internet domain, and is now used for any kind of site.
.int	Used by "International" sites, usually NATO sites.
.edu	Used for educational institutions like universities.
.gov	Used for US Government sites.
.mil	Used for US Military sites.
.net	Originally intended for sites related to the Internet itself, but now used for a wide variety of sites.
.org	Originally intended for non-commercial "organisations", but now used for a wide variety of sites. Managed by the Internet Society.

ICANN approved the following additional top-level Internet domains: .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, and .pro. in December 2002, after a long debate.

ICANN approved the top-level domains .travel and .post in October, 2004. Periodically new top level domains continue to be approved.





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